5elementknitr thinks I’m a rockin’ blogger!

So, 5 blogs I love? Well, hers. Does that count? Mostly I like these because there is a bit of a geeky nature to them, that often unusual things are posted (alpaca castration? snapping turtle mating? t-shirts with ancient sumerian and latin sayings? these, folks are things you can find on knitting blogs!)

Cabezalana.

KmKat and her Needles.

Stumbling over Chaos. She’s the contest connection! And very nice as well.

Rhymes with Fuchsia.

Big Geek (from Syracuse, where I used to live!)

Oh, no, that’s 5 already! These were the ‘geekiest’, but there are others that I really enjoy…and you know who you are because I’m stopping by and commenting all the time! And there are others that I catch only once in a while, because, really, I could probably spend all my time on the computer, and when would I knit?

eye candy!

Pogonia ophioglossoides, rose pogonia

This picture was shamelessly grabbed from dh’s folder! It grows in boggy places, should be flowering about now. It’s not rare in Maine. And, contrary to what most people think, all orchids are not protected in Maine. Not even the rare ones. In some other nearby states, like Massachusetts, the plant list is regulatory. Not so here. Plants, even rare ones, are more or less considered the private property of the landholder. The landholders in Maine that own the most land are the private industrial timber companies. We can go on their land to do plant and community surveys, but you can bet that if the list was regulatory, they’d never let us on! Some are better than others, some take to heart management recommendations, others not so much. OK, too much like work! Sorry!

it’s lacy and stretchy and wants to be long versus wide

I’m still not entirely sure what I think. I like its wiggliness. And its reptilian nature.

the decrease sections bunch up a bit, not sure what i think of that

i do like the beads

it’s better wrapped twice, but it’s 90F (32C for the rest of the world) and stinking humid

I’ve been wearing scarves on my head, but, um

the doggy earflap look, not so good!

better wrapped tighter

And what’s that back there?

throw the ball mom throw it throw it throw it the ball the ball the ball

And in the way back,

they are mostly done!

The pattern for reptilian is here. What I did different- used US 10 needles, 27 stitches versus 31, and beaded the entire end. Some pattern suggestions are at the bottom of this earlier post.

I heard some interesting news today…that the moss class at Eagle Hill (a field research institute place in Stueben) stumbled across a human skull! Here is the most informarmative news article about it. I know the instructor…I wonder what she thought when she/her class stumbled across it. Mel, do you recognize the man (a pal of mine from the moss forays) behind her in that photo? He’s a veterinarian in the Albany area.

I realized I haven’t put up any dog pics in a while.

Chappy’s mom talks here about cuteness… Lucky for Chappy he’s cute.

And after repeated 5 am barks to raise the dead, these girls are lucky they are cute too,

the guy’s pretty cute too, but he doesn’t bark loudly at 5 am!

I thought a few days I was half done with the Reptilian. Then I found an error. That couldn’t be fixed without RIPPING. About 6 inches back! Loose and lacy stitches, slippery yarn… I can see why people use lifelines in a ‘real’ lace pattern. But it’s back on track. Pics soon.

This morning, while I was carrying the heaviest down coats up into the attic, I smelled it. The unmistakable, sweet, sickly smell of death. I had a sinking feeling. Was that smell concentrated at the base of the attic stairs where my yarn stash is? I continued up into the attic. No smell.

(I have been doing minor battle with mice. I was tired of them in the pantry. I’d trapped out a female that looked like she was nursing. A smallish mouse the next day. None since, but only a few traps are still set.)

I noticed its source on the way down the stairs. Zuzu was staring at it. Small dead mouse. Thankfully I stepped over it on my way up. I took care of the immediate need. And had horrible visions of what may have occurred in the fiber. So then what?

went kayaking! At Jamie’s Pond aka Jimmy Pond in Hallowell, it’s close so we got a quick paddle in

Nymphaea odorata, great name, eh?

Well, then it was time to look in here

No problems in the cotton drawer, no problems in the acrylic blends/novelty drawer, no problems in the bags where there should be a drawer, no problems in the drawer that has extra socks and odd items, no problems in the bags of yarn on the shelves, no problems in the couple of loose skeins on the shelf. Then. I. Saw. It. One turd, on this,

This came out of the drawer that sat on top of the bureau because the slider is broken. So all the yarn in that drawer (wool) was super checked. Thankfully no more had any mouse droppings. None of it smelled like the latrine was in there. But, then,

Friendz Blendz that looks like it was being sampled for nesting material, see the fluff on the right?

I’m hoping that when I ball that up, not too much is ruined. Thankfully the sock yarn and the newest yarn was all safe…it wasn’t in the attic stairway.

I figured since I was in there, I’d take pictures of stash to put on Ravelry. Not sure if that will actually happen, but I have the pics! When I put it back, I put the wool drawer in the bureau, even though it doesn’t slide in quite right. Now I have to remember to set out the traps.

Some of what is in the sock drawer is stuff that I can’t part with, that has been darned and darned again, such as

from Latvia!

and

also from Latvia!

I figured one day I’d figure out a way to reknit the worn portions. Or, maybe make small purses out of the tops. At the very least use them for inspiration to make some!

Death not only has a smell, it leaves a mark! And it took off some polyurethane!
even after vinegar, and then bleach, and then vinegar

Poor critter! I wouldn’t mind having them in the house if they didn’t poop and pee all over stuff as they roamed about and didn’t keep the latrine under the kitchen sink where I can readily smell it. Oh yeah, and didn’t chew up fibery stuff.

The Sexy Knitter’s Club is voting for their next KAL…there are some nice projects in there, and some of them are free….if you don’t want to do the KAL and are just looking for something.

A couple of days ago I sent an email to a book author, and she wrote back already! She’s Jennifer Donnelly and I’d written her about how much I enjoyed her book (aimed at young adults) A Northern Light. Here’s what she said,

Thank you so much for your lovely email! It really made my day. I’m so pleased to hear that you enjoyed ANL. Mattie, Weaver, Grace and the gang are all near and dear to my heart and I’m glad that you connected so strongly with them.

I hope your cousin’s daughter liked the book, and that your niece will, too. Thank you so much for recommending it!

With best wishes,

Jennifer

So, I’ve recommended it locally, and now it’s out to the blogosphere. Her characters ring true, she writes about a place I briefely lived near and long played in, and wraps her story around a true event (the murder of a young woman) that I vaguely knew about. Don’t buy it entirely blindly for a young person in your life though, there is some violence and some sex in the book, but it is not explicit or gratuitous. I plan to get it for one of my neices, I’m thinking the other (2 years younger) will get Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy. Maybe they’ll actually learn something! (Vicki Rowell has some connection to the setting of this story, and by connection of distant family, so do I, thus so does my neice!)

So do you know any buglers? Here is an article about the young man who played the bugle at my uncle’s funeral. It was so special to have a real person play the bugle for him. And they need more to play at veteran’s funerals. So, if you know a bugler, or a trumpeter who might play bugle, check here.

You all must know by now that I’m a bit of a biology nerd. And maybe I mentioned I took a bunch of scat pics on my trip out west… Mel posted one of his own today!

That coffee that Caffeinated Knitter sent? YUM!

Reptilian is nearly half done!